(Shanghai/New York, 12 October 2011): Asia and the Pacific’s most experienced emergency responders have gathered in Shanghai, China to look at strengthening disaster response and preparedness.

Up to 100 disaster management professionals from 25 countries in Asia and the Pacific as well as representatives from the United Nations, the Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies and international NGOs are participating in the region’s fourth Regional Humanitarian Partnership Meeting.

Although the FAO Global Food Price Index registered a slight decline during the month of May, the Organization forecast that food prices will remain high for the rest of this year and into 2012, according to the half-year Food Outlook report released in early June.

China’s provinces along the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River have experienced extreme weather conditions in the past few months. In April and May, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi were hit by a severe drought which led the water level of lakes connected to the river to drop to a record low. However, since the beginning of June, these provinces together with other southern provinces, have witnessed excessive precipitation which caused flash floods.

The central government on Thursday sent a special work team to north China's autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui, as well as the northwestern province of Gansu, to make inspection and direct local relief work as a lingering drought continues to plague those areas.

A severe drought that has lasted since March this year has impacted about 11.67 million people and 3.62 million livestock in the regions, according to a joint report issued by the National Commission for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Severe floods triggered by heavy rains will continue to threaten southern parts of China and bring the country into a crucial moment for flood control, Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei said Sunday.

There are increasing possibility that downpours, with enhanced frequency and intensity, will continue to lash the country's southern regions, Chen, also deputy head of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, told a meeting in Beijing to discuss flood-control measures.

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The nation's drought relief and flood control agency said Monday recent rains have helped alleviate the severe drought in the regions along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The continuous rains have effectively eased the drought in the central Hunan and eastern Jiangxi provinces, while in Hubei, Jiangsu and Anhui, the drought was also partially degraded, said the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFDH).

BEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) - Torrential rains battering central and southern China unleashed floods and landslides that killed more than 100 people, turning areas enduring drought just over a week ago into scenes of muddy destruction, local news reports said on Sunday.

A drought that has plagued the Yangtze River's downstream provinces for the last two months has caused direct economic losses of 2.44 billion yuan (about 376 million U.S. dollars) in east China's Jiangsu Province, according to official statistics issued Thursday.

The drought has affected 1.09 million people in Jiangsu so far, and these people are in urgent need of government relief, said a statement from the National Commission for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), citing reports from the province's civil affairs agency.

The Chinese Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Tuesday said it had added 1.2 billion yuan (about 182.65 million U.S. dollars) to help five regions along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River make a success of disaster relief work.

"The emergency allocation is primarily meant to aid drought-stricken Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces in restoring agricultural production and fishing," said the MOF in a statement posted at its website.

BEIJING, June 7 (Reuters) - A drought that has gripped parts of central and southern China has retreated after downpours over the weekend that brought deadly flooding to one area, official media reports said on Tuesday.

Premier Wen Jiabao urged local authorities to make great efforts to tackle drought-related problems in a recent tour in the country's parched central provinces.

The drought relief work must be pushed forward and a scientific approach taken, as its success is key to maintaining stable and rapid economic growth in the country, Wen told a seminar in Wuhan, capital city of central Hubei Province, following his inspection tour of Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces from June 2 to 4.

LAKE HONGHU, China June 3 (Reuters) - China's drought along its biggest river, the Yangtze, is for some scientists a demonstration of how global warming could increasingly disrupt the complex dance of air flows, rains and waterways that feeds dams and farming heartlands.

The worst drought which hit provinces along the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in 50 years will be eased as rains are forecast in the region over the following three days.

Moderate to heavy rains will pound the souther part of Hubei Province, northern part of Hunan Province, northern part of Jiangxi Province, most parts of Zhejiang Province and southern parts of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces from June 3 to June 5, the China Meteorological Administration said Friday in a statement on its website. Certain parts will experience rainstorms, it added.

China's meteorological authority said Tuesday that drought-stricken regions along the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River will get some relief with the arrival of light rainfalls in the coming three days.

Drizzles, moderate rains and thundershowers are forecast to hit central China over the next 24 hours, as well as parts of northeast, west and southwest China, according to China's National Meteorological Center (NMC).

Severe drought is continuing in central and southern China. Water shortages have affected residents and crops, resulting in shrinking lakes, rivers being cut off, and a suspension of shipping in some provinces and cities such as Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Shanghai.

The worst drought to hit Hunan Province in nearly a century has caused water shortages that have affected 1.11 million people in this central China province, said an official with the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

On May 30, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) held a report meeting on drought relief of 7 provinces in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River valley further summarizing and deploying meteorological service work for drought relief.

Zheng Guoguang, Administrator of CMA, chaired the meeting and emphasized that all levels of meteorological departments should pay high attention to the issue and coordinate actively to do a good job of service for drought situation monitor, forecast and warning. Drought relief and flood control both should be put as top priority.

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The persistent drought along the Yangtze River has plagued 104.4 million mu (6.96 million hectares), or more than 5 percent, of farmland in China as of Sunday, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

The drought, started in April, has affected 3.29 million people and 950,000 livestock in the five provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan, where dry spell is most serious, according to the latest government statistics.

BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China initiated a fourth-level emergency response plan Sunday afternoon to cope with the drought in east Jiangxi Province.

The fourth level is the lowest in the country's emergency response system.

According to a statement jointly issued by the National Commission for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA), as part of the emergency response program the two departments had sent a working group to the province to inspect the situation and assist ongoing disaster relief efforts.